


Gumption

by xswestallen



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, F/M, First Meetings, Fluff, Journalist Iris West, Meet-Cute, POV Iris West
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-13 09:11:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16014815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xswestallen/pseuds/xswestallen
Summary: First meeting AU. Iris is reporting at a CCPD press conference and finds herself smitten with a CSI.





	Gumption

**Author's Note:**

> Partially inspired by the scene in 1x11 of Iris asking Wells a question at a press conference and Barry looking on, impressed.

Iris stood shoulder to shoulder in the cramped entryway of CCPD’s downtown precinct. The flash of cameras, clicking of pens, and feedback from recorders no longer overstimulated her. She was an experienced reporter now, taking on her first solo assignment. After years of studying, interning, and working, her career was finally taking off.

The story was a dream for Iris. She had always been interested in true crime, so to be part of the media coverage for a serial killer manhunt like this one was the scoop of a lifetime. Captain David Singh was expected to be come out to give the briefing any minute. Iris repeated the questions she planned to ask over and over in her head, telling herself it wasn’t out of anxiety, but diligence.

The sea of press jumped into action when Captain Singh walked out of his office. He approached the podium with his hands out, trying to quiet the crowd. Reporters yelled out questions. 

“Captain, any new leads on the suspect's whereabouts?”

“What are you doing to keep the people of Central City safe?”

“Do you think your officers will be able to take this man in alive?”

Iris was jostled as rude writers from competitor newspapers pushed past her to get closer to Captain Singh. She stood her ground after being forced back by a half dozen people. 

Captain Singh cleared his throat and the room that once echoed with chatter was silent.

“I know the people of Central City are very concerned. It’s important for citizens to be vigilant, but we cannot live in fear. This suspect is no different than the thousands of other criminals Central City’s finest have apprehended in the past. We are following several leads on the suspect’s location. If you believe to see this suspect,” Captain Singh gestured to a composite sketch a detective was holding up for the crowd to see. “Do not confront him. He is armed and dangerous. Call 911 immediately.”

Iris was hastily jotted down quotes she could use for her article. Her nose was almost pressed against her notepad. Nerves made her hand a little shaking as she wrote. She tried to compensate by writing more forcefully. Unfortunately, Iris pressed her pencil to the paper so forcefully that the lead snapped. 

“Damn it!” Iris cursed under her breath. 

Captain Singh was continuing to give information on the suspect and she was missing it. He described the vehicle the suspect was last seen driving, even giving a partial plate. Iris was feeling like a failure. She tried to listen carefully to the briefing, hoping to commit the important details to memory. 

He was heading North East, possibly going out of state.

CCTV showed him buying brown hair dye at a drug store, so he may be trying to alter his appearance. 

Iris’ laser focus on Captain Singh’s briefing didn’t last long. She soon noticed a tall man standing behind the Captain, and he looked as nervous as she felt. He fiddled with the buttons on his cardigan, shifted his weight from foot to foot, and his gaze darted around the room. 

Seeing someone else be nervous, knowing she wasn’t the only one feeling so alone in this audience, was a comfort to Iris. She kept staring at the man. He was lanky but fit. His hair was chestnut brown had the perfect swoop of a lead singer in a boyband. Iris wondered who he could be. No police badge, but he was among the cops, so Iris figured he must work here in some capacity. 

Her curiosity was halted when the man’s eyes fell on her. He looked embarrassed, which was strange as he wasn’t the one caught staring. Iris smiled at him, a small thank you to him for helping her stay calm even if he didn’t know he was doing it. The man smiled back at Iris, a warm, genuine smile. It wiped all feelings of insecurity from her at once. Suddenly, she wasn’t lost in a crowd, she was under his spotlight.

“I’ll take questions now.” Captain Singh announced. 

Hands shot up from the eager journalists, including Iris. Captain Singh nodded to different ones and answered their questions. He was about to nod at Iris, signaling her turn, but another reported ran into her. The reporter tried to steal Iris’ moment but getting his question out first.

“Does the CCPD-”

Iris wasn’t having it. This may have been her first solo assignment, but she was a serious journalist with just as much right to ask a question as anyone else. 

“THANK YOU, for your time, Captain.” Iris said, speaking over the rude reporter who cut in. He was forced to step back and let Iris ask her question. She smiled with confidence and asked, “Can you tell us the specific area the suspect was last seen in?”

Captain Singh looked impressed with Iris. “No, everyone in the city should be vigilant. Thank you.” He finished. “That’ll be all.”

The attarctive, tall man puckered his lip and nodded. When he saw Iris was looking at him, he gave her two thumbs up. Iris giggled.

Reporters shouted more questions, none of which were intelligible from all the noise. Captain Singh left the podium without answering any. 

The crowd filed out rather quickly, but Iris remained. She watched the man with gorgeous hair and loving smile. Those around him left to go back to work too, but he stayed in place watching Iris. When enough people had gone, Iris went up to him.

“Hi.” She greeted him, in an unintentionally higher pitched voice than usual. 

“Hey.” He said back.

Up close, he was even cuter. Iris wanted to count his freckles and daydream about his pink lips. She had to look up to him, because he was nearly a foot taller than her. But, he made her feel anything but small. 

Iris realized she was staring. She pulled her head out of the clouds and offered her hand. 

“Iris West, Central City Picture News.”

He shook her hand and kept holding it after the shake.

“Barry Allen, uh- Central City Police.” He said, introducing himself.

“Are you a cop?” Iris asked.

“No, I’m a forensic scientist, a CSI.”

“Oh, that’s cool!” Iris said. “I love CSI: Miami.”

Barry’s smile twitched. Iris could tell he was internally debating if he should correct her on the reality of being a CSI. He was so socially awkward, Iris started to feel bad for her little joke. 

She touched his forearm. “I’m just kidding. I know your job is nothing like that.”

Under her touch, Iris felt Barry relax. He breathed out a laugh. “So, I’d be wrong to assume your job is just like the last season of The Wire.”

“Huh?”

“Th- The Wire? It was uh- a TV show and the last season was about journalism.” Barry spluttered, cheeks turning rosier with each word.

“Oh, ok.” Iris said, nodding.

“Have you seen it?”

“No, um, I’ve never seen it, but sounds interesting.” 

Iris wanted to kick herself. She was doing so well, flirting and joking, till she made it awkward by not knowing some pop culture reference everyone else probably did. She let go of Barry’s arm, feeling embarrassed. A bit of confidence returned to Iris when she noticed a hint of disappoint on his face at the loss of contact.

“I should take a break sometime and watch TV. I’ve been really busy finishing my dissertation for school.”  
Barry perked up. “You’re still in school? Are you studying journalism or English?

”Psychology, actually. I’m getting my Masters in it. I would’ve liked to study journalism, but it just wasn’t on my radar when I went into College. I decided to become a reporter just a few months ago.” Iris confessed. 

“Wow! Really? You seemed like a natural.”

Iris giggled, “Thanks.” Still feeling a twinge of embarrassment from her lack of conversational skills earlier, she said, “Sometimes I’m good with words.”

“Better than I ever am. I can’t get through my coffee order without stuttering.” Barry admitted. “I could never do what you do.”

Iris waved him off. “Stop.”

“I mean it.” Barry insisted. “I saw how you stood up to that pushy who tried to steal your spot. You handled it so gracefully. It took guts.”

Iris smiled at the floor. “Thank you. It didn’t feel gutsy to me when I was doing it, just scary. But, I didn’t want to come back from my first assignment with nothing to give my boss.”

“You’re first assignment? Wow, again! That was more than guts, that was….” Barry looked around as if literally searching for the right word. “That was gumption.”

“Well, thank you. It must take even more gumption to do what you do. You have to go to crime scenes all the time and look at pretty gruesome sites. ” 

“Maybe that’s the way CSI: Miami makes it look, but honestly, I spend most of the time in my lab. I look at lab tests more than dead bodies.”

“Still,” Iris sighed. “It must be hard when you do have to see the places where horrible things happened. How do you cope with it?”

Barry shrugged. “I guess I think about it from a forensic perspective instead of an emotional one.” He looked at Iris with a piercing gaze. “It also helps to have people around who show me all the light there is in the world.”

“That’s really insightful.” 

Barry looked pleased with himself but hombly said, “Thanks.”

“Were you the CSI at this killer’s crime scenes?” Iris asked.

“Some of them, yeah.” Barry said. After a moment, he withdrew from Iris, folding his arms and looking defensive. “You know I can’t discuss an ongoing investigation with you, right? If that’s why you came to talk to me, you’re out of luck.”

“No, that’s not it at all. I know you can’t give out details, I wasn’t trying to get an on the record interview.” Iris explained. “I was just..”

“Just what?”

“I don’t know. I saw you and for some reason, I just wanted to talk to you. Which, by the way, is so weird. I never approach guys, especially when I’m working.”

“I was an exception?” Barry asked.

“A very cute exception.”

Barry bit his lip. “Then, I’ll make an exception for you too. I never really ask girls out, but, would you like to get a coffee with me sometime?”

“As a date? Or, do you just want someone to order for you?” Iris teased.

“Can’t it be both?”

“Yes.” Iris laughed.

A detective walked up to Barry. “Hey Allen, I need to talk to you.”

Barry looked from Iris to the detective and back. Iris excused herself so Barry could keep working, she didn’t want to get him in trouble.

“It was nice meeting you Barry.” She wrote down her phone number on her notepad and tore the page off to give Barry. “I’ll be looking forward to that coffee.”

As Iris walked away, she could still hear the detective and Barry talking.

“What was that, Allen?” The detective asked.

Barry answered, “Gumption.”


End file.
